JP7371562B2 - Information processing device, information processing system, and program - Google Patents

Description

The present disclosure relates to an information processing device, an information processing system, and a program.

A service has been disclosed that recommends to a user a community that has attributes that match the user's profile (for example, Patent Document 1).

Japanese Patent Application Publication No. 2008-242521

An object of the present disclosure is to provide an information processing system and an information processing method that can create a communication group with surrounding users while moving.

One aspect of the present disclosure is
Detecting at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from a moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal;
creating a first communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
Notifying the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created;
a control unit that executes
An information processing device comprising:

One of the other aspects of the present disclosure is
Detecting at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the first user terminal that is the own device and is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal while moving;
Sending a group creation request to a predetermined server, requesting creation of a communication group having each user of the first user terminal and the second user terminal as members;
receiving from the predetermined server a notification that the communication group has been created as a response to the group creation request;
Notifying the user of the first user terminal that the communication group has been created;
a control unit that executes
An information processing device comprising:

One of the other aspects of the present disclosure is
Communication from a moving first user terminal with at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. receiving a group creation request requesting the creation of a group;
creating a communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
Notifying the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the communication group has been created;
a first control unit that executes;
a server comprising;
detecting the second user terminal while moving;
transmitting the group creation request to the server;
receiving a notification from the server that the communication group has been created;
Notifying the user that the communication group has been created;
a second control unit that executes
a user terminal comprising;
It is an information processing system that includes.

According to the present disclosure, it is possible to create a communication group with nearby users while moving.

FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an automatic group creation system according to the first embodiment. FIG. 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the center server. FIG. 3 is a diagram illustrating an example of the hardware configuration of a vehicle and an on-vehicle device. FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the center server and the vehicle-mounted device. FIG. 5 is an example of a parallel running state monitoring table of the in-vehicle device. FIG. 6 is an example of a user information table. FIG. 7 is an example of a member attribute desired condition information table. FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the process of transmitting a group creation request by the in-vehicle device. FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart of group creation processing by the center server.

For example, when touring by motorcycle, driving alone, or traveling alone by public transportation, one of the pleasures is interacting with people you meet at rest stops or destinations. However, many people find it difficult to talk to complete strangers. Therefore, in the present disclosure, by creating a communication group between users traveling in the same direction, such as users riding side by side on motorcycles or cars, or users riding together on a train, Promote interaction between the users.

Specifically, one aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing device including a control unit. The information processing device is, for example, a server. The control unit is, for example, a CPU (Control Processing Unit).
etc., is a processor. The control unit detects at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. The control unit creates a first communication group having each user of the first user terminal and the second user terminal as members. Next, the control unit 11 notifies the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created.

The user terminal is, for example, an in-vehicle device mounted on a vehicle, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or a portable PC (Personal Computer). The vehicle on which the in-vehicle device is mounted is, for example, an automobile, a two-wheeled vehicle, or the like.

According to one aspect of the present disclosure, the first user terminal and the second user terminal move in the same direction within a predetermined distance from each other, so that the first user terminal and the second user terminal A communication group is created with each user of the terminal as a member. With this, for example, when it is assumed that the first user terminal and the second user terminal are both in-vehicle devices, when the first user terminal and the second user terminal arrive at the same destination, the first user terminal and the second user terminal By creating a communication group, you can promote interaction between members of the group.

Further, in one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit may further transmit, to the first user terminal and the second user terminal, a message suggesting a meeting place for each user. good. This allows smoother merging of the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the information processing device further includes a storage unit that stores user information about the user and a first condition regarding attributes of the user desired by the user to be a member of the communication group. Good too. The control unit may determine whether the attributes of the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal satisfy each other's first conditions. If the mutual attributes satisfy each other's first conditions, the control unit creates a first communication group. If the mutual attributes do not satisfy each other's first conditions, the control unit does not create the first communication group. User attributes include, for example, gender, age, area of residence, and type of associated vehicle. As a result, a first communication group is created with users having attributes desired by the user, and the user can become more proactive in interacting with the user.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the user information may include preference information regarding user preferences. In this case, the control unit may determine whether at least part of the preference information of the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal matches each other. If at least a portion of each other's preference information matches, the control unit creates a first communication group. If at least some of the mutual preference information does not match, the control unit does not create the first communication group. As a result, a communication group is created between users who share at least some of their tastes, allowing them to have common topics and promoting interaction.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit acquires information regarding the destination of movement from the first user terminal and the second user terminal, and controls the movement of the first user terminal and the second user terminal. It may also be determined whether the destinations of the two destinations are in the same direction. If the destinations of movement are in the same direction, the control unit creates a first communication group. If the destination of movement is not in the same direction, or if information regarding the destination of movement is not acquired from at least one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal, the control unit controls the first communication group. Not created. This can prevent unnecessary creation of communication groups.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit may determine whether the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal already belong to the same communication group. If the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal do not belong to the same communication group, the first communication group is created, and the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal If the users already belong to the same communication group, the control unit does not create the first communication group. This can prevent unnecessary creation of communication groups.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit may transmit a permission request requesting permission to create the first communication group to the first user terminal and the second user terminal. When receiving permission responses indicating permission to create the first communication group from each of the first user terminal and the second user terminal, the control unit creates the first communication group. If the permission response is not received from at least one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal, the control unit does not create the first communication group. This can prevent unnecessary creation of communication groups.

Another aspect of the present disclosure is an information processing device including a control unit. The information processing device is also a first user terminal. The control unit detects, during movement, at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the first user terminal that is the own device and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. . The control unit transmits a group creation request to a predetermined server, requesting creation of a communication group whose members are the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal. The control unit receives a notification that a communication group has been created as a response to the group creation request from a predetermined server, and notifies the user of the first user terminal that the communication group has been created.

In another aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit receives the first signal transmitted from the second user terminal at a predetermined period using a communication method that does not involve a relay device, and transmits the first signal to the second user terminal. The duration time during which the first signal is continuously received may be measured. If the duration is longer than a predetermined time length, the control unit may transmit a group creation request to a predetermined server. The first signal is transmitted by multicast at a predetermined period. This allows the user terminals that receive and process the first signal to be limited to those that can receive the multicast. A user terminal that can receive the multicast is, for example, a user terminal that is registered with a service that creates a communication group among users who are moving in the same direction.

In one aspect of the present disclosure, the control unit may transmit the identification information of the user of the first user terminal together with the first signal. The control unit determines which of the group creation requests is made based on the identification information of the user of the second user terminal and the identification information of the user of the first user terminal received together with the first signal from the second user terminal. It may also be determined whether to send the information to a predetermined server. The second user terminal similarly performs a transmission based on the identification information of the user of the first user terminal received together with the first signal from the first user terminal and the identification information of the user of the second user terminal. , determines which one should send the group creation request to a predetermined server. The first user terminal and the second user terminal make the determination using the same determination criteria. Thereby, it is possible to prevent the first user terminal and the second user terminal from duplicatingly transmitting group creation requests to a predetermined server.

Note that another aspect of the present disclosure is a system including the information processing device and a user terminal.

Embodiments of the present disclosure will be described below based on the drawings. The configurations of the following embodiments are illustrative, and the present disclosure is not limited to the configurations of the embodiments.

<First embodiment>
FIG. 1 is a diagram showing an example of the system configuration of an automatic group creation system 100 according to the first embodiment. The automatic group creation system 100 is a system that automatically creates a communication group whose members are users associated with two vehicles running in parallel, respectively, when predetermined conditions are met. A communication group is a designated SNS (Soci
al Networking Service). Users included in a group are called members.

The automatic group creation system 100 includes a center server 1 and a plurality of in-vehicle devices 2 installed in a vehicle 20. In FIG. 1, for convenience, an on-vehicle device 2A mounted on a vehicle 20A and an on-vehicle device 2B mounted on a vehicle 20B are shown. Vehicle 20A is an automobile. Vehicle 20B is a two-wheeled vehicle. In addition, when the vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B and the vehicle-mounted device 2A and the vehicle-mounted device 2B are not distinguished, they are respectively written as a vehicle 20 and a vehicle-mounted device 2.

The in-vehicle device 2 is an in-vehicle device associated with a user who has registered to receive the service provided by the automatic group creation system 100. The user is, for example, a passenger or owner of the vehicle 20. Vehicle occupants also include the driver. Hereinafter, the service provided by the automatic group creation system 100 will be referred to as an automatic group creation service.

A client application for receiving the automatic group creation service and a predetermined SNS application are installed on the in-vehicle device 2. Further, in the first embodiment, the in-vehicle device 2 is provided with a function of inter-vehicle communication.

In FIG. 1, a vehicle 20A and a vehicle 20B are traveling in the same direction on an expressway, a main road, a mountain road, or the like, side by side on the left and right, or side by side front and back. A state in which a plurality of vehicles 20 are running in the same direction side by side on the left and right or side by side in front and back is hereinafter referred to as a parallel running state. The in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B each transmit a member recruitment signal at predetermined intervals to indicate their presence to the in-vehicle devices 2 associated with other users registered in the automatic group creation service. The member recruitment signal is sent, for example, to a multicast address used for the automatic group creation service. The transmission interval of the member recruitment signal is set, for example, between 0.1 and 3 seconds. The member recruitment signal is transmitted, for example, by vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Along with the member recruitment signal, user identification information of the user associated with the in-vehicle device 2 that is the transmission source is also transmitted. The user identification information is, for example, identification information assigned to each user in the group automatic creation system 100. The member recruitment signal is an example of a "first signal."

The in-vehicle device 2A detects that the vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B on which the in-vehicle device 2B is mounted are running in parallel when the member recruitment signal transmitted from the in-vehicle device 2B is continuously received for a predetermined period of time. do. In this case, the in-vehicle device 2A sends to the center server 1 the user A associated with the in-vehicle device 2A and the occupant of the vehicle 20B running parallel to the vehicle 20A, that is, the user B associated with the in-vehicle device 2B. Send a group creation request requesting the creation of a communication group as members. Hereinafter, the communication group will be simply referred to as a group. Along with the group creation request, the center also receives the location information of the vehicle 20A, the user identification information of user A associated with the transmission source in-vehicle device 2A, and the user identification information of user B received from the in-vehicle device 2B together with the member recruitment signal. Sent to server 1.

Note that the vehicle-mounted device 2B also receives the member recruitment signal from the vehicle-mounted device 2A, and detects that the vehicle 20B and the vehicle 20B on which the vehicle-mounted device 2B is mounted are running in parallel. However, if the in-vehicle device 2B also transmits a member recruitment signal, the center server 1 receives duplicate group creation requests requesting the creation of a group with the same members. Therefore, in the first embodiment, the parent-child relationship between the in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B is determined based on the user identification information, and the in-vehicle device 2A, which corresponds to the parent, sends a group creation request to the center server 1. Send.

Upon receiving the group creation request from the in-vehicle device 2A, the center server 1 determines whether or not users A and B satisfy a predetermined condition based on the user identification information of users A and B received together with the group creation request. Determine. The predetermined conditions are that each other's attribute information matches member attribute desired conditions indicating each member's preference for each other's attributes, that at least a part of each other's preference information is common, and that the destinations are in the same direction. This includes that the user A and the user B do not already belong to the same group.

If User A and User B satisfy the predetermined conditions, the center server 1 creates a group with User A and User B as members, and registers the group in the SNS server 3. Furthermore, it notifies the vehicle-mounted device 2A and the vehicle-mounted device 2B that a new group whose members are user A and user B has been created. Along with the notification, the center server 1 also sends, for example, a message guiding the vehicles 20A and 20B to a meeting point such as a rest area or a parking lot located in a certain direction from the positions of the vehicles 20A and 20B.

The in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B output a notification that a group including users A and B as members has been newly created, and a guidance message to the meeting point on the display. Recognizing this, when user A of vehicle 20A and user B of vehicle 20B arrive at the meeting place, user A and user B recognize each other, thereby creating an opportunity for user A and user B to interact. can be made.

Hereinafter, for convenience of explanation, the vehicle 20A and the on-vehicle device 2A will be described as the ego vehicle 20A and the ego on-vehicle device 2A, respectively, and as the center of processing regarding the vehicle 20. Therefore, when referring to the vehicle 20 and the vehicle-mounted device 2 themselves, they are expressed as an ego vehicle 20A and an ego vehicle-mounted device 2A. Further, the vehicle 20B and the on-vehicle device 2B will be described as another vehicle 20B and another on-vehicle device 2B with respect to the ego vehicle 20A and the on-vehicle device 2A, respectively. However, the other vehicle for vehicle 20A and vehicle-mounted device 2A is not limited to vehicle 20B. Furthermore, the ego vehicle is not limited to the vehicle 20A and the on-vehicle device 2A.

FIG. 2 shows an example of the hardware configuration of the center server 1. The center server 1 includes a CPU 101, a memory 102, an external storage device 103, and a communication section 104 as a hardware configuration. Memory 102 and external storage device 103 are computer-readable recording media. The center server 1 is an example of an "information processing device", a "predetermined server", and a "server".

The external storage device 103 stores various programs and data used by the CPU 101 when executing each program. The external storage device 103 is, for example, an EPROM (Erasable Programmable ROM) or a hard disk drive. The programs held in the external storage device 103 include, for example, an operating system (OS), a control program for an automatic group creation system, and various other application programs.

The memory 102 is a storage device that provides the CPU 101 with a storage area and a work area for loading programs stored in the external storage device 103, and is used as a buffer. The memory 102 is, for example, a ROM (Read Only Memory) or a RAM (Random Memory).
Including semiconductor memory such as Access Memory.

The CPU 101 executes various processes by loading the OS and various application programs held in the external storage device 103 into the memory 102 and executing them. The number of CPUs 101 is not limited to one, and a plurality of CPUs may be provided. The CPU 101 is an example of a "control unit" or a "first control unit" of an "information processing device."

The communication unit 104 is, for example, a wired network card such as a LAN (Local Area Network) or a private line, and connects to a public line network such as the Internet through an access network such as the LAN. Note that the hardware configuration of the center server 1 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 2.

FIG. 3 is a diagram showing an example of the hardware configuration of the vehicle 20 and the in-vehicle device 2. As shown in FIG. In addition, in FIG. 3, among the hardware configurations of the vehicle 20, the hardware configuration used for the automatic group creation service is extracted and shown. The vehicle 20 has an on-vehicle device 2, a GPS (Global Positioning System) as a hardware configuration used for the automatic group creation service.
It includes a receiving section 211, a touch panel display 212, and a speaker 213.

The GPS receiving unit 211 receives time signal radio waves from a plurality of artificial satellites (Global Positioning Satellites) orbiting around the earth, and calculates, for example, latitude and longitude as position information of the vehicle 20 from the detected signals. .

The touch panel display 212 displays notifications from the center server 1, for example. The speaker 213 outputs the notification from the center server 1 as a sound, for example.

Next, the in-vehicle device 2 has a CPU 201, a memory 202, an external storage device 203, a communication section 204, an inter-vehicle communication section 205, and an interface 206 as a hardware configuration. Memory 202 and external storage device 203 are computer readable recording media. The in-vehicle device 2 is an example of an "information processing device" and a "user terminal."

The CPU 201, the memory 202, and the external storage device 203 are the same as the CPU 101, the memory 102, and the external storage device 203, respectively. The external storage device 203 holds, for example, an operating system (OS), a client program for an automatic group creation service, a predetermined SNS application, and various other application programs. The CPU 201 is an example of a "control unit" of an "information processing device" corresponding to a user terminal. Further, the CPU 201 is an example of a "second control unit" of a "user terminal".

The communication unit 204 is an interface that inputs and outputs information to and from the network. The communication unit 204 is an interface that connects to a wireless network. The communication unit 204 performs communication based on a mobile communication system such as 5G (5th Generation), LTE (Long Term Evolution), and 3G (3rd Generation), or a wireless communication standard such as WiFi.

Vehicle-to-vehicle communication section 205 performs direct communication with other vehicles 20B. Direct communication refers to communication that does not go through a relay device. The vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 205 performs communication according to a wireless communication method for vehicle-to-vehicle communication, such as DSRC (Dedicated Short Range Communications), for example.

The interface 206 connects the in-vehicle device 2 to hardware components other than the in-vehicle device 2 in the vehicle 20 . A GPS receiver 211, a touch panel display 212, a speaker 213, and the like are connected to the interface 206. Note that the hardware configuration of the vehicle 20 is not limited to that shown in FIG. 3.

FIG. 4 is a diagram showing an example of the functional configuration of the center server 1 and the vehicle-mounted device 2. As shown in FIG. The in-vehicle device 2 includes a control section 21, a terminal communication section 22, and a server communication section 23 as functional components. These functional components are achieved by, for example, the CPU 201 of the in-vehicle device 2 executing the client program of the automatic group creation service. Although the on-vehicle devices 2 included in the automatic group creation system 100 have the same functional configuration, for convenience, the ego on-vehicle device 2A will be described as a representative of the on-vehicle devices 2.

The terminal communication section 22 is an interface with the vehicle-to-vehicle communication section 205. The terminal communication unit 22 can also be said to be an interface with other in-vehicle devices 2B. The terminal communication unit 22 outputs information input from the control unit 21 to the vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 205. The terminal communication section 22 outputs information input from the vehicle-to-vehicle communication section 205 to the control section 21 .

The server communication unit 23 is an interface with the communication unit 104. The server communication unit 23 can also be said to be an interface with a server on the network. The server communication unit 23 outputs information input from the control unit 21 to the communication unit 104. The server communication unit 23 outputs information input from the communication unit 104 to the control unit 21.

The control unit 21 controls the process of detecting another vehicle 20B running in parallel and transmitting a group creation request to the center server 1. The control unit 21 transmits a member recruitment signal and user identification information through the terminal communication unit 22, for example, by multicast. Further, the control unit 21 receives a member recruitment signal and user identification information transmitted from another in-vehicle device 2B through the terminal communication unit 22, and monitors the member recruitment signal received from the other in-vehicle device 2B. .

When the control unit 21 detects that a member recruitment signal has been continuously received for a predetermined period of time or more from another in-vehicle device 2B, the control unit 21 determines whether or not to send a group creation request to the center server 1. . The predetermined time is set within a range of 10 minutes to 60 minutes, for example. Along with the group creation request, location information, user identification information associated with the ego in-vehicle device 2A as user identification information of users who are candidate members of the group, and user identification information received along with the member recruitment signal are also transmitted. Detecting that a member recruitment signal has been continuously received for a predetermined period of time or more from another in-vehicle device 2B means, for example, that "the first user terminal exists within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal; This is an example of "detecting at least one second user terminal that is moving in the same direction as the user terminal." The "predetermined range" is, for example, a reachable range of radio waves for vehicle-to-vehicle communication. Hereinafter, a user associated with the ego in-vehicle device 2A will be referred to as user A, and a user associated with another vehicle will be referred to as user B.

For example, the control unit 21 determines the parent-child relationship based on the user identification information of the user A associated with the ego in-vehicle device 2A and the user identification information of the user B received from the other in-vehicle device 2B, and When the in-vehicle device 2A becomes a parent, it transmits a group creation request to the center server 1 through the server communication unit 23. The parent-child relationship between the ego in-vehicle device 2A and other in-vehicle devices 2B is determined, for example, by whether the user identification information is large or small.

As a response to the group creation request, the control unit 21 receives a group creation success response or a group creation failure response from the center server 1 through the server communication unit 23. The group creation success response indicates that a group whose members are user A and user B, who are candidate members of the group sent together with the group creation request, has been created. The group creation failure response indicates that the group whose members are the group member candidates User A and User B sent together with the group creation request has not been created.

When the group creation success response is received, the control unit 11 displays on the touch panel display 212 that a new group has been created with the user B of the other vehicle 20B running parallel to the ego vehicle 20A. User A is notified. Further, when a guidance message to a meeting place with a user who has become a member is received together with a successful group creation response, the guidance message is also displayed on the touch panel display 212.

FIG. 5 is an example of a parallel running state monitoring table of the ego in-vehicle device 2A. The parallel running state monitoring table is a table for monitoring the duration of reception of member recruitment signals from other vehicle-mounted devices 2B. The parallel running state monitoring table is stored, for example, in the storage area of the memory 202 of the ego in-vehicle device 2A. The parallel running state monitoring table shown in FIG. 5 includes fields for user ID, first time stamp, latest time stamp, and parallel running duration time.

The user ID field stores user identification information of user B, which is received together with the member recruitment signal from another vehicle 20B. The first time stamp field stores, for example, the date and time when the ego vehicle 20A first receives the member recruitment signal. The latest time stamp field stores, for example, the reception date and time of the last member recruitment signal received in the ego vehicle 20A. Note that the time stamp added to the member recruitment signal by another vehicle 20B, which is the transmission source, may be used.

The parallel running duration field stores a value obtained by subtracting the value of the first timestamp field from the value of the latest timestamp field, that is, the duration of time during which the member recruitment signal is received from the other in-vehicle device 2B. Ru. The duration of time during which the member recruitment signal is received from the other vehicle-mounted device 2B indicates the time during which the ego vehicle 20A and the other vehicle 20B continue to run in parallel.

When the control unit 21 receives a member recruitment signal from another in-vehicle device 2B, if the user identification information of the user B received together with the member recruitment signal is not registered in the parallel running state monitoring table, the control unit 21 determines that the user B Create an entry corresponding to the user identification information for . The control unit 21 also stores the value of the initial timestamp of the newly created entry.

If the user identification information of user B received along with the member recruitment signal has already been registered in the parallel running state monitoring table, the control unit 11 stores the values of the latest timestamp and parallel running duration fields of the relevant entry. Update. Further, the control unit 11 controls the control unit 11 when a member recruitment signal with the user identification information of user B indicated by the value of the user ID field of the corresponding entry is not received even after a predetermined period of time has elapsed from the time indicated by the latest timestamp field. deletes the entry. Note that the information included in the parallel running state monitoring table is not limited to the example shown in FIG. 5 .

Returning to FIG. 4, the center server 1 includes a control section 11 and a user information storage section 12 as functional configurations. These functional components are achieved by, for example, the CPU 101 of the center server 1 executing the control program of the automatic group creation system.

The control unit 11 receives a group creation request from the ego in-vehicle device 2A. Along with the group creation request, for example, the location information of the ego in-vehicle device 2A and the user identification information of the two user candidates (user A and user B) are also received. When the control unit 11 receives a group creation request from the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A, it determines whether or not the following conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied for the two member candidate users.

(1) The attribute information of the two users matches member attribute desired conditions indicating each other's wishes for the members' attributes. The user's attribute information and desired member attribute conditions are acquired from the user information storage unit 12, which will be described later.
(2) At least part of the preference information is common between the two users. User preference information is acquired from the user information storage section 12, which will be described later.

(3) The direction of the destination of the two users is the same. Information on the user's destination is acquired by, for example, the control unit 11 transmitting a destination acquisition request to the ego in-vehicle device 2A and other in-vehicle devices 2B. For example, when a destination is set in the car navigation system, the in-vehicle device 2 transmits the destination as a response to the center server. Note that if the destination is not set in the car navigation system or if the vehicle 20 is not equipped with a car navigation device, the destination information is not acquired.

(4) Two users do not already belong to the same group. Information indicating whether the two users belong to the same group is obtained, for example, by making an inquiry to the SNS server 3. This is because if two users already belong to the same group, there is a high possibility that the two users are acquainted with each other, so there is no need to create a new group for them to become acquainted.

If all of the above conditions (1) to (4) are satisfied, the control unit 11 generates a group having the two users as members, and registers the group in the SNS server 3. Further, the control unit 11 sends a group creation success response indicating that a group whose members are the users indicated by the user identification information received together with the group creation request to the ego vehicle corresponding to the user A who is a member of the group. Send to device 2A. The group creation success response is also sent to other in-vehicle devices 2B associated with user B who is a member of the group and who is not the source of the group creation request. Further, the control unit 11 sets a rest area, parking lot, etc. located in the direction of the destination from the position indicated by the location information of the ego in-vehicle device 2A received with the group creation request as a meeting point, and sends a guidance message to the meeting point. is transmitted to each of the ego in-vehicle device 2A and other in-vehicle devices 2B.

Note that, upon receiving the group creation success response, the other vehicle-mounted device 2B causes the touch panel display 212 to display that a group of user B and user A of the ego vehicle 20A running parallel to the other vehicle 20B has been created.

If at least one of the above conditions (1) to (4) is not satisfied, the control unit 11 determines not to create a group with the two users as members, and Sends a group creation failure response to 2A. Note that the conditions for creating a group are not limited to the above (1) to (4).

The user information storage unit 12 is created in a storage area of the external storage device 103 of the center server 1. The user information storage unit 12 is a database that stores information regarding users.

FIG. 6 is an example of a user information table. The user information table is a table that holds information regarding users. The user information table is stored in the user information storage section 12.

The user information table shown in FIG. 6 includes fields for user ID, contact information, account name, attribute information, and preference information. The user ID field stores user identification information assigned in the automatic group creation system 100. The contact field stores contact information of the in-vehicle device 2 associated with the user indicated by the value of the user ID field. The contact information for the in-vehicle device 2 is, for example, the IP address, e-mail address, etc. of the in-vehicle device 2. However, it is not limited to this. The account name field stores the user's predetermined SNS account name indicated by the value of the user ID field.

The field of attribute information includes subfields of gender, age, area of residence, and vehicle. Information corresponding to each field name is stored in the subfields of gender, age, and area of residence. The residential area may be, for example, a prefecture name or a region name. The model of the vehicle 20 is stored in the vehicle subfield. Depending on the type of vehicle, for example, in the case of a car, information such as the car name, vehicle shape, and model is shown.

The preference information field includes subfields of hobby #1, hobby #2, . . . .
The hobby subfield stores words indicating the genre of the hobby.

FIG. 7 is an example of a member attribute desired condition information table. The member attribute desired condition information table is a table that stores member attribute desired conditions indicating the member's desired attributes. The member attribute desired condition information table is stored in the user information storage section 12. The desired member attribute condition is an example of a "first condition."

The member attribute desired condition information table shown in FIG. 7 includes fields for user ID, gender, age, residential area, and vehicle. The fields of gender, age, area of residence, and vehicle are provided corresponding to the attribute information subfields of the user information table shown in FIG.

The gender, age, area of residence, and vehicle fields store values indicating the attributes that the user indicated by the value of the user ID field desires for the user to become a member of the group. If the values of these fields are not specified by the user, a value indicating "no question" is stored. Further, the user may specify "no question" as the value of these fields.

The information stored in the user information table and the member attribute desired information table is set, for example, at the time of user registration to the automatic group creation service. Further, the value of each field can be changed according to a request from a user. Note that the information stored in the user information table is not limited to that shown in FIG. 6. The information stored in the member attribute desired information table is not limited to that shown in FIG. 7.

<Processing flow>
FIG. 8 is an example of a flowchart of the group creation request transmission process of the in-vehicle device 2. The process shown in FIG. 8 is executed at a predetermined period, for example, while the in-vehicle device 2 is activated. The CPU 201 of the in-vehicle device 2 is the main entity that executes the processing shown in FIG. 8, but for the sake of convenience, the functional components will be mainly described. The same applies to the flowcharts below. In FIG. 8, the in-vehicle device 2 that is the subject of processing is referred to as the ego in-vehicle device 2A.

In OP101, the control unit 21 determines whether the ego in-vehicle device 2A is moving. Whether or not the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A is moving is detected based on, for example, a change in position information or a detected value of a sensor such as an acceleration sensor provided in the ego vehicle 20A. If the ego in-vehicle device 2A is moving (OP101: YES), the process proceeds to OP102. If the ego in-vehicle device 2A is not moving (OP101: NO), the process shown in FIG. 8 ends.

In OP102, the control unit 21 determines whether a member recruitment signal transmitted from another vehicle-mounted device 2B has been received through the terminal communication unit 22. If a member recruitment signal is received from another vehicle-mounted device 2B (OP102: YES), the process advances to OP103. If a member recruitment signal has not been received from another vehicle-mounted device 2B (OP102: NO), the process shown in FIG. 8 ends.

In OP103, the control unit 21 determines whether the user identification information of user B received together with the member recruitment signal is new user identification information. That is, the control unit 21 determines whether the user identification information of user B received together with the member recruitment signal is registered in the parallel running state monitoring table. If the user identification information of user B received together with the member recruitment signal is new user identification information (OP103: YES), the process advances to OP104. In OP104, the control unit 21 creates an entry in the parallel running state monitoring table corresponding to the received member recruitment signal and user B's user identification information. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 8 ends.

If the user identification information of user B received together with the member recruitment signal is not new user identification information (OP103: NO), the process proceeds to OP105. In OP105, the control unit 21 rewrites and records the value of the latest timestamp field of the entry in the parallel running state monitoring table corresponding to the received member recruitment signal and user B's user identification information to the date and time received in OP102. do.

In OP106, the control unit 21 determines whether the ego vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B in which the on-vehicle device 2B, which is the transmission source of the member recruitment signal, is mounted are running parallel to each other for a predetermined period of time or more. This determination is made, for example, based on the value of the parallel running duration field of the parallel running state monitoring table that corresponds to the user identification information of user B associated with the other vehicle 20B. If the ego vehicle 20A and the other vehicle 20B continue to run in parallel for a predetermined period of time or more (OP106: YES), the process proceeds to OP107. If the ego vehicle 20A and the other vehicle 20B are running parallel to each other for a predetermined period of time or longer (OP106: NO), the process shown in FIG. 8 ends.

In OP107, the control unit 21 determines the parent-child relationship between the ego in-vehicle device 2A and another in-vehicle device 2B, and determines whether the ego in-vehicle device 2A is the parent. The parent-child relationship between the ego in-vehicle device 2A and another in-vehicle device 2B may be determined, for example, based on the user identification information of user A and user B, or may be determined based on, for example, the user identification information of user A and user B. Identification information may also be transmitted, and the determination may be made based on the size of the unique identification information. If the ego in-vehicle device 2A is the parent (OP107: YES), the process advances to OP108. If the ego in-vehicle device 2A is a child (OP107: NO), the process advances to OP109.

In OP108, the control unit 21 transmits a group creation request to the center server 1 through the server communication unit 23. Along with the group creation request, user identification information of users A and B as group member candidates is also transmitted.

In OP109, the control unit 21 determines whether a group creation success response has been received from the center server 1 through the server communication unit 23. Along with the group creation success response, a guidance message to a meeting point with another vehicle 20B may also be received. If a group creation success response is received (OP109: YES), the process advances to OP110. If a group creation failure response is received (OP109: NO), the process shown in FIG. 8 ends, that is, no group is created.

In OP110, the control unit 21 displays, for example, on the touch panel display 212 that a group of user A and user B of another vehicle 20B running parallel to ego vehicle 20A has been created. Furthermore, if a guidance message to the meeting point with another vehicle 20B is received along with the group creation success response, the guidance message is also displayed on the touch panel display 212. Note that the fact that a group of user A and user B of another vehicle 20B running in parallel with ego vehicle 20A has been created and a guidance message may be outputted by voice from speaker 213. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 8 ends.

FIG. 9 is an example of a flowchart of the group creation process of the center server 1. The process shown in FIG. 9 is repeatedly executed, for example, while the center server 1 is in operation. FIG. 9 will also be explained with the ego in-vehicle device 2A as the source of the group creation request and another in-vehicle device 2B as the source of the member recruitment signal received by the ego in-vehicle device 2A.

In OP201, the control unit 11 determines whether a group creation request has been received from the ego in-vehicle device 2A. The location information of the ego on-vehicle device 2A and the user identification information of users A and B are also received from the ego on-vehicle device 2A along with the group creation request. If a group creation request is received from the ego in-vehicle device 2A (OP201: YES), the process proceeds to OP202. If a group creation request is not received from the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A (OP201: NO), the process shown in FIG. 9 ends.

In OP202, the control unit 11 determines whether the user A and the user B indicated by the user identification information received with the group creation request belong to the same group in a predetermined SNS. This determination is made, for example, by acquiring the SNS account name from the user identification information of each user, and inquiring about the group to which the account name belongs to the SNS server 3. If user A and user B belong to the same group in the predetermined SNS (OP202: YES), the process advances to OP209. If user A and user B do not belong to the same group in the predetermined SNS (OP202: NO), the process proceeds to OP203.

In OP203, the control unit 11 acquires information on the destinations of the vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B from the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A and the other vehicle-mounted device 2B, respectively. The destination information is obtained, for example, by transmitting a destination information acquisition request to the in-vehicle device 2 and as a response. Note that whether or not the in-vehicle device 2 holds destination information depends on, for example, whether the destination is set in a car navigation system or the like. Further, the contact information for each in-vehicle device 2 is obtained from the user information table.

In OP204, the control unit 11 determines whether the respective destinations of the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A and the other vehicle-mounted device 2B are in the same direction. If the respective destinations of the ego in-vehicle device 2A and the other in-vehicle device 2B are in the same direction (OP204: YES), the process proceeds to OP205. If the respective destinations of the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A and the other vehicle-mounted device 2B are not in the same direction (OP204: NO), the process proceeds to OP209. Note that if the destination information is not acquired from at least one of the ego in-vehicle device 2A and the other in-vehicle device 2B, a negative determination is made in OP204.

In OP205, the control unit 11 determines whether the attribute information of user A and user B satisfy each other's desired member attribute conditions. User attribute information is obtained from a user information table, for example. The member attribute desired conditions are acquired from the member attribute desired condition information table, for example. If the attribute information of users A and B satisfy each other's desired member attribute conditions (OP205: YES), the process advances to OP206. If user A's attribute information does not satisfy user B's desired member attribute conditions, user B's attribute information does not satisfy user A's desired member attribute conditions, or both (OP205: NO) , the process advances to OP209.

In OP206, the control unit 11 determines whether at least a part of the preference information is common to user A and user B. User preference information is obtained, for example, from a user information table. If at least part of the preference information is common to user A and user B (OP206: YES), the process proceeds to OP207. If there is no common part of the preference information for user A and user B (OP206: NO), the process proceeds to OP209.
Proceed to.

In OP207, the control unit 11 creates a new group whose members are user A and user B, and registers it in the SNS server 3. Furthermore, a meeting point between vehicles 20A and 20B is determined from rest areas, parking lots, etc. existing in the direction of the destination based on the position information of the ego in-vehicle device 2A, and a guidance message to the meeting point is created. In OP208, the control unit 11 transmits a group creation success response and a guidance message to the ego in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 9 ends.

In OP209, the control unit 11 does not create a new group with users A and B as members, and transmits a group creation failure response to the ego in-vehicle device 2A. Thereafter, the process shown in FIG. 9 ends.

Note that the processing of the center server 1 is not limited to the example shown in FIG. For example, the determination processing of OP202, OP204, OP205, and OP206 may be performed in any order. Furthermore, at least one of the determination processes of OP202, OP204, OP205, and OP206 may be performed.

<Actions and effects of the first embodiment>
In the first embodiment, when the vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B run side by side for a predetermined period of time, a communication group including users A and B as members is created. This creates a point of contact with the person you happen to be driving alongside, and promotes interaction between the two. Furthermore, in the first embodiment, since the vehicle 20A and the vehicle 20B are guided to the merging place using a guidance message, it is easier for users A and B to merge.

Further, in the first embodiment, the user can register conditions for attributes desired for members of a group, and other users who meet the conditions become members. This makes it possible to flexibly respond to conditions desired by the user for group members.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, since users who have common preference information become members of a group, it is easier to find a topic and it is possible to further promote interaction between users.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, if the destinations are in different directions and if the users already belong to the same group, a group with the user as a member is not created. This can prevent unnecessary creation of communication groups.

<Other embodiments>
The embodiments described above are merely examples, and the present disclosure may be implemented with appropriate changes within the scope of the gist thereof.

In the first embodiment, for example, before creating a group whose members are user A and user B (before OP207 in FIG. 9), the center server 1 requests group creation permission to the in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B. A request may be sent to obtain permission from user A and user B. In this case, when permission responses are received from the in-vehicle device 2A and the in-vehicle device 2B, the center server 1 creates a group having user A and user B as members.

Furthermore, in the first embodiment, the center server 1 determines whether or not the user A and the user B belong to the same group, but the ego vehicle-mounted device 2A may also perform this determination. Since a predetermined SNS application is installed on the ego in-vehicle device 2A, the SNS server 3 can be accessed. Further, in this case, for example, the in-vehicle device 2 also transmits the account name of a predetermined SNS along with the member recruitment signal. As a result, the ego in-vehicle device 2A can acquire the account name of the user B, and can acquire information on the group to which the user B belongs.

In the first embodiment, the vehicle 20 is an automobile or a two-wheeled vehicle, but the vehicle 20 may also be a train. Furthermore, movement is not limited to the vehicle 20, and may be by walking. A user terminal such as a smartphone may be used instead of the in-vehicle device 2. When a smartphone or the like is used, the member recruitment signal uses wireless PAN (Personal Area Network) communication such as BLE (Bluetooth (registered trademark) Low Energy) instead of vehicle-to-vehicle communication.

In the first embodiment, a group is created for two vehicles running in parallel, but the present invention is not limited to this, and a group may be created by users of three or more vehicles running in parallel.

The processes and means described in this disclosure can be implemented in any combination as long as no technical contradiction occurs.

Further, the processing described as being performed by one device may be shared and executed by a plurality of devices. Alternatively, processes described as being performed by different devices may be performed by one device. In a computer system, the hardware configuration (server configuration) that implements each function can be flexibly changed.

The present disclosure can also be realized by supplying a computer program implementing the functions described in the above embodiments to a computer, and having one or more processors included in the computer read and execute the program. Such a computer program may be provided to the computer by a non-transitory computer-readable storage medium connectable to the computer's system bus, or may be provided to the computer via a network. The non-transitory computer-readable storage medium may be any type of disk, such as, for example, a magnetic disk (floppy disk, hard disk drive (HDD), etc.), an optical disk (CD-ROM, DVD disk, Blu-ray disk, etc.); Includes read only memory (ROM), random access memory (RAM), EPROM, EEPROM, magnetic cards, flash memory, optical cards, and any type of medium suitable for storing electronic instructions.

1: Center server 2: On-vehicle device 3: SNS server 11: Control unit 12: User information storage unit 20: Vehicle 21: Control unit 22: Terminal communication unit 23: Server communication unit 100: Group automatic creation system 101: CPU
102: Memory 103: External storage device 104: Communication unit 201: CPU
202: Memory 203: External storage device 204: Communication unit 205: Vehicle-to-vehicle communication unit 206: Interface

Claims (13)

Transmitted from the first user terminal that detects at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. receiving a group creation request requesting creation of a communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
creating a first communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
A notification to the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created , and a place where the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal meet. Send a message suggesting and ,
a control unit that executes
An information processing device comprising: Further comprising a storage unit that stores user attribute information regarding the attributes of the user of the user terminal and a first condition regarding the attributes of the user desired by the user to be a member of the communication group,
The control unit includes:
Determining whether or not each other's attribute information satisfies each other's first condition for the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal,
If the mutual attribute information satisfies the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created, and if the mutual attribute information does not satisfy the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created. does not create the first communication group;
The information processing device according to claim 1 . Transmitted from the first user terminal that detects at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. receiving a group creation request requesting creation of a communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
a first user terminal whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
1 communication group and
Notifying the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created;
a control unit that executes
a storage unit connected to the control unit and storing user attribute information regarding the attributes of the user of the user terminal and a first condition regarding the attributes of the user desired by the user to be a member of a communication group;
Equipped with
The control unit includes:
Determining whether or not each other's attribute information satisfies each other's first condition for the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal,
If the mutual attribute information satisfies the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created, and if the mutual attribute information does not satisfy the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created. does not create the first communication group;
Information processing device. The storage unit further stores preference information regarding user preferences,
The control unit includes:
Determining whether at least a part of the preference information of the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal is common to each other;
If at least a part of the mutual preference information is common, the first communication group is created, and if there is no common part of the mutual preference information, the first communication group is not created. ,
The information processing device according to claim 2 or 3. The control unit includes:
obtaining information regarding the destination from the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
determining whether the destinations of the first user terminal and the second user terminal are in the same direction;
If the destinations are in the same direction, create the first communication group, and if the destinations are not in the same direction, or from at least one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal. not creating the first communication group if information regarding the destination is not obtained;
The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 4. The control unit includes:
determining whether each user of the first user terminal and the second user terminal already belongs to the same communication group;
If the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal do not belong to the same communication group, the first communication group is created, and the first user terminal and the second user terminal not creating the first communication group if the respective users of the user terminals already belong to the same communication group;
The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 5. The control unit includes:
transmitting a permission request requesting permission to create the first communication group to the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
receiving a permission response from each of the first user terminal and the second user terminal indicating permission for creation of the first communication group by the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal; If the permission response is not received from at least one of the first user terminal and the second user terminal, the first communication group is created. do not create,
The information processing device according to any one of claims 1 to 6. Detecting at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the first user terminal that is the own device and is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal while moving;
Sending a group creation request to a predetermined server, requesting creation of a communication group having each user of the first user terminal and the second user terminal as members;
A message from the predetermined server, in response to the group creation request, notifying that the communication group has been created and suggesting a meeting place for each of the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal. and, receiving the
Notifying the user of the first user terminal that the communication group has been created and the message ;
a control unit that executes
An information processing device comprising: Transmitted from the first user terminal that detects at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. receiving a group creation request requesting creation of a communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
creating a first communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
A notification to the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created , and a place where the respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal meet. Send a message suggesting and ,
a first control unit that executes;
a server comprising;
detecting the second user terminal while moving;
transmitting the group creation request to the server;
receiving from the server a notification that the first communication group has been created and a message suggesting a meeting place for respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal; ,
Notifying the user that the first communication group has been created and the message ;
a second control unit that executes
a user terminal comprising;
information processing systems including; Further comprising a storage unit that stores user attribute information regarding the attributes of the user of the user terminal and a first condition regarding the attributes of the user desired by the user to be a member of the communication group,
The first control unit includes:
Determining whether or not each other's attribute information satisfies each other's first condition for the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal,
If the mutual attribute information satisfies the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created, and if the mutual attribute information does not satisfy the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created. does not create the first communication group;
The information processing system according to claim 9 . Transmitted from the first user terminal that detects at least one second user terminal that is within a predetermined range from the moving first user terminal and that is moving in the same direction as the first user terminal. receiving a group creation request requesting creation of a communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
creating a first communication group whose members are respective users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal;
Notifying the first user terminal and the second user terminal that the first communication group has been created;
a first control unit that executes;
a storage unit connected to the first control unit and storing user attribute information regarding the attributes of the user of the user terminal and a first condition regarding the attributes of the user desired by the user to be a member of the communication group;
a server comprising;
detecting the second user terminal while moving;
transmitting the group creation request to the server;
receiving a notification from the server that the first communication group has been created;
a second control unit that notifies a user that the first communication group has been created;
a user terminal comprising;
Equipped with
The first control unit includes:
Determining whether or not each other's attribute information satisfies each other's first condition for the users of the first user terminal and the second user terminal,
If the mutual attribute information satisfies the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created, and if the mutual attribute information does not satisfy the mutual first condition, the first communication group is created. does not create the first communication group;
Information processing system. computer,
A program for operating the information processing apparatus according to claim 1 . computer,
A program for operating as the information processing device according to claim 8 .

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